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Jubilant events

A four-day long weekend will begin with Queen Elizabeth II starting the Diamond Jubilee celebrations at the annual Epsom Derby on 2nd June 2012. Join the Queen as she kicks off the Jubilee celebrations with a day out at the races. A royal tradition that has seen Elizabeth II attend the annual racing day since a young girl, Her Majesty will take to Royal Box for the Epsom Derby to cheer on her horse; Carlton House. Experience horses, hats and high society as Red Carnation Hotels offers the chance to experience the social life of the Royals, taking in the Epsom Derby whilst having a hat consultation with Milliner in residence Louis Mariette, a Bentley transfer, champagne, cocktails, afternoon tea and more. The package is valid between 2nd to 23rd June 2012, and prices range from £927 to £1148.

Perch by the riverside to witness an elaborate royal procession harking back to the golden age. On the afternoon of Sunday 3rd June 2012, around a thousand boats will take to the River Thames as Her Majesty The Queen leads the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. The floating celebration will be the largest flotilla ever assembled on the river, with boats of all shapes and sizes draped with decorations and their crew and passengers dressed up in their finest attire. The best views can be found for free along the River Thames. There will be up to 50 big screens along the route so wherever you’re standing, you will see the flotilla! The pageant starts at Battersea Bridge between 2pm and 3pm and finishes at Tower Bridge between 5pm and 6pm. Keep the party going and head to The Bingham in Richmond, a riverside hotel hosting a Garden Party on 5th June 2012 featuring a ‘Best of British’ theme with mini fish and chips, Eton Mess, jugs of Pimms, non-alcoholic cocktails for children, games, lashings of patriotic bunting and more! Ticket price is £22 per adult and £10 per child.

Alternatively, dress in your best party clothes, pick up your Union Jack flag to wave and feast on traditional Victoria sponge and Pimms at one of many Big Lunches happening across the country. The Big Jubilee Lunch will be a part of the main programme of events over the central weekend of Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Some 10 million people came out in sunny 1977 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee and a large number of people will look to do the same in 2012 – The Big Lunch is a very simple idea from the Eden Project. The aim is to get as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun. Head to the Big Jubilee Lunch with Start at the Old Royal Naval College for one of the largest street parties in England! With market stalls and delicious local foods on offer you can cheer on the boats as the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant passes by the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Continuing the merriment, The National Trust has launched a campaign teaming up with national treasures Wallace and Gromit to help lead the country’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. A weekend of over 70 Jubilee tea parties will be held across the country where the loveable duo’s new mini animation will be shown for the first time ever at Trust places across the country. The funny flick has been specially created for the National Trust festivities as part of their Summer of Celebration .The green grass carpet will be rolled out for the mini animation – A Jubilee Bunt-a-thon – and a behind-the-scenes documentary, which are to be exclusively screened at the Trust’s Jubilee parties. Their films have already met with the royal seal of approval with Camilla declaring that Wallace and Gromit are Prince Charles’ “favourite people in the world”.

A Royal tea (or tipple)…

What a perfect way to spend the afternoon, and not a crust on a cucumber sandwich in sight. By the 1860s, the fashion for afternoon tea was widespread in Britain and still is to this very day. The Langham, London – ‘birthplace of the afternoon tea tradition’ – has collaborated with British luxury goods brand Asprey in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee to create an ‘Asprey Jubilee Tea’. Award-winning Head Pastry Chef, Cherish Finden has created a selection of irresistible treats, inspired by Royal Warrant holder Asprey’s exquisite jewellery collection, including a Pina Colada macaroon with Malibu. The tea is £49 per person, available until October 2012.

The Berkeley’s fashion-inspired afternoon tea Prêt-à-Portea showcases the season’s fashions in pastries and biscuits, and to mark the Queen’s 60th anniversary on the throne, from 29th May to 9th June 2012 the hotel’s special afternoon tea will include biscuits, fancy cakes and choux buns made to resemble the most memorable hats worn by the Royal Family.

The Ritz London offers the ultimate high tea experience anytime, with champagne, pastries, scones and finger sandwiches served in their spectacular Palm Court but during the Jubilee guests will be treated to a limited edition Diamond Jubilee commemorative dish as a gift during the celebratory period.

And if you want to go all out, head to The Goring, the hotel hired out by the Middleton family at last year’s Royal Wedding. Through May and June they are offering a Diamond jubilee cocktail, in a Swarovski crystalline glass: the 1952. A gin martini, with 2.5 measures of Hendricks Gin, mixed with Noilly Prat, shaken over ice with a real silver leaf – it’s a potent combination, with an edge of royal glamour. At £120 each, it’s not an everyday beverage, but you get to take the glass away with you to toast Her Majesty with at home!

For those who prefer to throw their own tea party, Britain’s craft companies have been working long to create the perfect pieces to capture the moment in time. Wedgwood is the name most often associated with British designed fine china, and as you’d expect, the company released special editions for the Diamond Jubilee, ranging from mugs to a £5000 Satyr Vase. Additionally, those with a passion for pottery can take a tour of the Emma Bridgewater factory, Stoke-on-Trent from 30th April – 18th May 2012 and see all the wonderful pieces, from egg cups to crowns, being made to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee! Then, on 3rd June 2012, celebrate all things regal with the Emma Bridgewater Diamond Jubilee Courtyard Party. With delicious treats and royal activities, it’s an event to entertain the whole family. Tickets price is £10 for adults and £5 for children.

However, if you like your tea with a spoonful of celebrity, VisitEngland in conjunction with Ali Miller are searching for the nation’s best photos showing how people celebrate national festivities. The photo with the most votes will win a set of 2 Ali Miller-designed teacups and saucers, as used by Stephen Fry in the popular GREAT 2012 television campaign.

A night fit for a Queen

There are a number of hotels offering great package deals during the Diamond Jubilee, as well as plenty of places all over England that offer an experience fit for a Queen. Luton Hoo, in Bedfordshire, where The Queen and Prince Phillip spent part of their honeymoon and returned in later years to celebrate their wedding anniversary is one of them. They are offering a Jubilee weekend package including meals, a champagne reception and the lighting of their Royal Beacon on 4th June 2012 for £410 per person for four nights.

The Draycott Hotel in Chelsea is offering a stay in a beautifully appointed bedroom or suite for two nights at London’s favourite privately owned Town House. During your stay you can visit Kensington Palace and savour the delights of an exclusive Royal Afternoon Tea. Including a Full English Breakfast and Oyster pass for travelling around London. Package is valid from 1st – 11th June 2012, with prices from £690, excluding VAT.

The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington is offering a package on 2 June including Arena tickets to the Royal Albert Hall to see the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra and Russell Watson perform stirring British favourites, with rooms plus concert tickets for two starting at £315. They also have an Afternoon Tea Treat package, with a night for two plus sweet treats like Elizabethan Trifle and English Rose Cheesecake from £269.

For more active visitors to Britain, the 3 day Luxury Royalty Diamond Jubilee Tour run by Capital Sport takes you on two wheels through royal highlights Hampton Court, Richmond, Kew and the River Thames, with quality hybrid bikes and accommodation included, from £550 per person and departing three times a week.

Only last week, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent their first wedding anniversary at 12th Century hotel, The Crown Inn in Westleton, Suffolk, a rustic and genuine English country pub complete with crackling log fires and real ales. They stayed in the Swan Room, one of the inn’s best, which features a stylish roll-top bath, big enough for two, and a contemporary four-poster bed. Prices range from £90 – £215 (depending on season and room).

Thornbury Castle (near Bristol) has a colourful racy royal past, and states ‘Kings and queens have stayed here. Courtiers have flirted with ladies-in-waiting in the ancient yew-hedged gardens. Serving girls have chattered in the stone-flagged courtyard. Today, Thornbury Castle still resonates with history and is the only Tudor castle in England to be open as a hotel.’ Enjoy a regal night’s sleep in the Duke’s Bedchamber where King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn slept or favour the Gloucester Bedchamber and wake up to a view of the oldest Tudor gardens in England – the Privy Garden and Goodly Garden. Experience a little of what life was like for a king and try the Henry VIII Regal Castle Experience (a 2 night break) from £770 for 2 adults.

Fab 50s

To celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee a host of events across the country will be taking you back to the year 1952 when Elizabeth ll ascended the throne. Leeds Castle is hosting a special 1950s weekend during the main Jubilee weekend, celebrating ‘all things British’ and screening the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant live. Visitors of all ages will be immersed in the 1950s periodic atmosphere with themed activities for all. Enjoy a traditional cream tea and admire the 1950s cars and steam engines on display whilst the children take part in fun royal themed craft activities. Evening tickets can be pre-booked online for £20 per adult and £15 per child.

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu is staging a fantastic 50s themed family event from 2nd to 5th June 2012. Of course, a Beaulieu event wouldn’t be complete without a motoring element, and the Jubilee Celebrations are no exception. There will be a drive-in of 50s vehicles taking place over the whole four days of the event, including cars, motorbikes, commercial and agricultural vehicles. All owners of 50s vehicles are invited to join the drive-in free of charge on any one of the four days. Indulge in a little 50s nostalgia and enjoy free old time funfair rides such as a carousel, dodgems and swing boats and the whole attraction will be decked out in Great British themed decorations, including bunting and flags. Entry for the driver and passenger is free of charge (entrance fee is £10 for each additional adult and £5 per additional child).

Finally, the historic city of Oxford will be hosting a ‘1950s then and now’ Lord Mayor’s Jubilee Party right in the heart of the city, accompanied by live music and performances with an array of stalls. Also, during the Jubilee Churches Festival between 25th May and 5th June 2012 many of Oxfordshire’s prettiest churches are welcoming people to a range of events including concerts, poetry readings, flower shows and historical exhibitions.

For more information visit, www.great2012offers.com

A right Royal weekend: celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in style is a post from UKseries.com's UK Travel Blog

Morpeth’s transport links make it the ideal place to use as a base for exploring our stunning county – currently brimming with dafodils. Within close reach is Belsay, with its famous quarry garden, and Wallington, featuring pre-Raphaelite paintings and beautiful walled garden hidden in the woods. Exhausted explorers are always relieved to know that mid-Northumberland also boasts a good array of friendly pubs serving quality local food.

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